Industry Panel Discussion

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I did not get to go to all of the industry panels, but I did attend a few, and they were very fun! Going into Otakon, they are always the ones I look forward to the most initially, then get surprised by how amazing fan panels are. That said, I think we all have our own opinions on how the industry panels went and were handled this year. I will only comment on those I got to attend, but I would love to hear everyone else's opinion on the others!

Also, I am Fooly (lol) aware that some of this is going to seem selfish. It is! These ideas reflect how it could improve MY Otakon experience. I'm sure others will agree, and others will disagree.

Industry Panel Lines + Locations

I absolutely love that they did not overlap and that they did allow for someone to potentially see everything. I did NOT enjoy how spaced out they were. These Industry panels should all be, in my opinion, in the same room. If this cannot work logitically, I would love to hear it, but I think of something like this. Pick a nice big room, one of the ballrooms perhaps.

Ballroom X -->

9:00AM - 10:00 AM Aniplex

10:30 AM - 11:30 AM Sunrise

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM Funimation

1:30 PM - 2:30 PM Bandai (too soon T_T)

You get the point. One room to show them all. This way, those interested in all of Industry can line-up early, get in, and (assuming they don't do roomclears) can stay straight through, OR assuming there IS room clears, can just exit and re-enter the line.

Going from The Hilton to the BCC to the Hilton within 3 hours for essentially the same style panel that is the same size isn't necessary, I think.

The only problem with this, is on this "Industry" day, they'd have to work to end it with enough time for people to line up for their late night events (the 18+ shows) and not overlap it with too many other headlining events. Even so though, that is bound to happen and people will choose.

Industry Panel Opinions

Obviously, Otakon has no real influence over what is / isn't shown during industry panels. As such, this is very opinion/taste based.

Aniplex - I really liked what they had to show, but I felt like a lot of their trailers didn't tell you what the show was really about! It gave you a general overarching theme, and nothing else to go off of. It was very heavily based on you already knowing a series going in, and just being happy that its Aniplex that brought you it. Also, having 1 presenter was a bad idea I think. Referring to himself as "The Aniplex Guy" makes me think this is common practice, but I really feel like a panel of 2-3 is necessary to play off of one anothers energy! Good showings, but a distinct lack of any real energy.

Funimation - Lots more energy and excitement in the presenters. Perhaps adding in too many guests for an hour time slot, because everything felt very constrained/rushed. The shows announced though were kind of weird. I get that its exciting and I'm probably in the minority, but it rubbed me the wrong way that the "big" announcement is the acquisition of a show (Cowboy Bebop) that is still pretty easily available, or the continuation of a show (Fairy Tail) that I don't think anyone ever doubted wouldn't be continued.

Unfortunately, due to timing constraints, cosplay, and other things, those were the only industry panels I made it too. Anyone else have good/bad experiences or suggestions to share?

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Sunrise & Funi were in the same room this year. I enjoyed that. I did not enjoy that Sentai was at a time that "shafted" so many people and was in a very small room (though I did end up with great seats).

I attended the Aeria Games "Industry Panel" on Sunday which could have been better titled as "Getting your foot in the door for employment in a game company." That was the main thrust of the panel and the speaker did a good job covering all the ways you could get a job in the industry along with which personal skills were considered important for each job type.

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What about Sentai, Crunchy and other relevant (ie:not "gaia online", whatever that is) industry panels? 9 AM is also WAY too early: the con only opens its doors 30 minutes before hand and, especially if the panel is on Friday, the 9 AM panel will only be open to those who picked up their badges on Thursday night.